Ego Vs Effectiveness

I love how ideas just pop into your head. The idea for this article came as a result of a simple conversation I had with someone I train with regularly. I wasn’t even going to chat to the guy, but thought I’d go out of my way en route to my desk at work to see where the curiosity would take me. It’s that desire to gather more that ultimately leads to more and more ideas. As I look back at the volume of articles on this website (650+), I think there’s pretty much something written on any topic concerned with running here. The beauty is that there’s so much more to do and its these little chats that continue to provide the inspiration to write.

This article is probably a little more relevant to the male fraternity of our audience. As men, we’re afflicted by this terrible disease called ‘ego’. We can’t help it, we’re simply born with it. We have to prove ourselves and worth to the outside world. Of course, not all men are afflicted with this, and it varies to different degrees. Heck, there are even some women with ego, but you’re less inclined to find it there as women lack this one thing that men have – testosterone. (Unless you’re on the PEDs of course).

My little chat led me to a discussion with our subject around his training earlier this week and how he’d run a 10km tempo. At full fitness this guy can kick around the low 37s for his 10km, but has been slightly injured of late. On Monday he bust out a low 39s, which under full fitness would have been a well-paced tempo run, but he said it was a struggle. Given his recent injury worries, coach bleakman advised that he would have been better off just backing off the pace a little and settling for a mid 40:xxs 10kms. That would have felt slightly more relaxed and he would have still got the benefit from the session. he could have even built the session a little better with some mini recovery intervals.

But as a result of pushing himself, where does this leave his training for the rest of the week? Having pushed too much into the red zone for that 10kms, it’s likely now that his training for the next few days at least is going to suffer and be below par i.e. it will not be as effective as it could be. This could then have a knock-on effect into his training for the week after and ultimately kick his training programme out of synch. Worst case, as what quite often happens where ego is involved, it could lead to injury. I know, I’ve done this more times than I care to remember. That little 5km race pace tester a few weeks before a big 100kms and ping goes a calf.

Ego can = injury

So why did he push himself harder than he should? It was simply his ego. Having been injured, there is a sense of making sure you’ve ‘still got it’. so to speak. It’s a comfort factor in knowing that if required, he can still hold or get near to his previous training structures prior to a slight injury. This is his ego talking. The requirement for validation and proof. But who cares? His ego, that’s who cares.

And this is what I think is one of the most beautiful things about training, the balance between ego and effectiveness. To be effective, you have to balance your ego.

So what drives ego? Why, when we run do we get carried away with proving that we’re the best when no-one other than ourselves really cares or takes notice?

Our ego is self-conscious and wants to be in control. It comes from within ourselves, it is a place that is totally absorbed with our reputation, personal interest, and in some respects, survival. Some ego in our training structures isn’t a bad thing, it’s just that at times, it requires some control for us to be effective for the rest of our training. So what are the warning signs to look out for?

#1 More is never enough – Smashing a PB one week is great, but only for a minute. You’re already thinking about how you’re going to smash it the week after. But then sometimes you crash and burn big time. Look for consistency in your training. It’s OK to be slightly slower over the same session one week versus the next. What you should be looking for is that gradual upward curve and a focus on peaking at the right time. If you want a better example, think of your training as you would your interval sessions. If you’re doing 12 x 400s around a track, you should aim to have no more than 5 seconds between your fastest and slowest laps. It’s no use busting out a 400m PB if the rest of your laps are 20 seconds slower. Look for the consistency across all of your training and recognise when it is time to go hard and when it’s time to pull back. More is something you gain over a period of time, not just a session.

#2 You’re never wrong – Even though you may have crashed and burned in two of your sessions, your attitude is to get back out there and smash it all again. Learn to accept when sessions don’t pan out the way they should and be open to advice. The more open-minded you can be about your training and approach to running the more you will learn. If you’re only concerned with doing it your way or the highway, you might never actually reach your potential as a runner.

#3 Training becomes too serious – We’ve all had that feeling I’m sure when the joy is lost from our training. While it could be the monotony of what you’re doing week in, week out. It can also be because the running ego is so fixated with the job at hand, stealing your joy by filling you with concerns and worries about what you’re doing in your training. The running ego struggles with anything that threatens the self-concept and as such goes on the offensive to fight fire with fire. In training this means going harder and harder until – snap, you’re injured. If you’ve lost the joy of training, then it could be that your running ego is taking too firm a grip of what you’re doing. Novelty and play time in life are qualities that as adults we lose rapidly from our childhood. Go out and run a silly session. Ditch the watch and run at a stupidly slow pace and look at your surroundings. Dump the ego at the door and look to simply enjoy the motion of running. It is after all why you started in the first place.

These are just some of the things that come to mind and I am in no way a qualified coach or psychologist – the above is merely opinion based on experience. But I’m always open to debate and learning. If anything I think it’s a fascinating topic to explore and understand more about the controlling nature of the ego in running.

Share the love:

Like this:

Related

I'm a mediocre runner who can bat above his average when I train hard. A man of extremes, I do enjoy everything life offers and consider it an absolute pleasure just to be able to put one foot in front of the other and let my mind wander somewhere different.

Post navigation

3 thoughts on “Ego Vs Effectiveness”

Ego Vs Effectiveness…. I know I’m a mere grass-hopper in the grand scheme of things but I can slightly relate to this.

Here I am now injured (ankle reconstruction – July) and only just thinking about getting back into some running… My ankle has now been mostly pain free for more than a month… My ego says.. Come on bennie, time to get back into it.. I even have a doctor’s clearance… but my head still says to wait….

I read your articles about someone doing a sub 40 – 10km run and think.. wow.. that’s amazing and they can’t bring themselves to bring it back to mid 45’s… I’d give me left nut to be able to run again… I know a lot of people don’t like hearing from injured runner’s… when you’re fit and healthy you pity the injured runner but only for a few minutes… you think, ‘thank god it’s not me’…. and then get back into your own training.

It truly sucks to be injured…. I’m not sure out of your 650+ articles if you’ve written about the psychological impact of being injured, long term. It hurts… you can cross train, bike, swim all you like but there is nothing like running.

Will I let ego get in the way ? No… I’ll bide my time and wait… For all i know it might take another six months. but my bloody determination will mean that I’ll run my 1st ultra one day… The journey has been 5 years in the making and I’m not going to give up..

Keep up the great articles Dan, your posts give me more hope and courage to not give up more than you can imagine.

Hey Bennie, thanks for taking the time to read this and for your comments. It’s great when I get feedback like this. Really appreciated. I havent written about eh long term effects of injury. I did recent write something about being injured myself… if you do a quick search you’ll find it… it’s called ramblings of an injured runner. I’m probably not qualified to write about the psychological effects, I’d leave that to the experts… but something to consider for sure. Keep the faith mate…. you will get there. The joy is in the journey… not the end result. That’s what I think is so wrong with our society generally right now… we’re constantly rewarding people for results, whereas it should be about the journey… Thanks for reading… Hope your recovery goes well.

Join the Ultra168 Strava Club

Ultra Running Calendar

Want to find an ultra in Australia? Click on the image to access the Running Calendar Ultra race list

Bogong Equipment

You can get a 10% discount from Bogong Equipment by becoming an Ultra168 Supporter!

Running Science

You can get a 15% discount from Running Science by becoming an Ultra168 Supporter!

Find Your Feet

You can get a 20% discount from Find Your Feet by becoming an Ultra168 Supporter!

Raidlight

Get 30% off Raidlight gear as an Ultra168 Supporter!

VFuel

Get 12.5% off VFuel gels as an Ultra168 Supporter!

Ultra168 Verified & Secured

Instagram

About Ultra168

Ultra168 is an independent community website, born on the trails and remains independent through and through. Our name is based on our ethos - no excuses, just choices. There are 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week and 168 hours to do the stuff you enjoy doing, be that running, family, life or work.

Donate and Help Support Ultra168

Ultra168 is a free to use website, meaning that you can access any of the content on here for free if you choose. All of the running costs are paid for by myself and if you feel like helping out and contributing towards the up keep of the website you can either help by joining the Supporters Club, or by making a donation here. Thanks for reading!

Contact Ultra168

Ultra168 is run by Dan Bleakman, a Sydney based ultramarathon runner. First and foremost, this is a passion, which means its run mainly as a hobby. I cover the Australia and New Zealand ultrarunning scene, as well as international events and news. Feel free to contact me at dan@ultra168.com for any story ideas, product reviews or if you have any questions about ultrarunning down under.